Our 5 weeks in Japan

Having received so much valuable info in this forum, I thought I'd share the experiences of my wife's and my trip in Japan this summer. It might be helpful to someone.

It's ongoing ( 2 weeks in - 3 to go), so I'll update this thread as we go along.

Please feel free to comment or post questions/ suggestions!

July 5: arrived in Narita, transferred to Haneda ( took about 2 hours) and flew to Sapporo. Got our rental car (Honda carrental - cost was 5100 yen per day). Drove to Furano (took close to 3 hours). Stayed in the area near the skilift. Not ideal if you want to see the town, but good otherwise.

July 6: did very little. Had to cope with our massive 24h journey getting here. Some very peculiar bars in this area:-).

July 7: Drove all day around Furano and Biei. We wanted to see the lavenderfields and flowers in general. This turned out to be a huge disappointment...
There where no lavenderfields that weren't there for tourist reasons! The way it's described in the books, it sounds like there are farmers living of growing lavender and therefore have fields of the stuff. No such thing...
The flowergardens are all very beautiful, but you might as well just go to a botanical garden, just so you know.
Later we drove to the cablecar at Asahi-dake, but it was pouring down, so we decided to stay down and drove back to Furano.

July 8: Drove to Lake Akan. Very touristy, but a good place to base yourself for driving around the area. Also has a couple of decent eating options. If you're there, try eating at Ajishin. In the afternoon we drove along a dirtroad to Tsuroi - good fun and saw deers and birds along the way.

July 9: Hiked up the Meakan volcano. 5 hours roundtrip.

July 10: Drove to Utoro. Stopped at Lake Mashu along the way. Had trouble organizing accomodation in Utoro or Shari, so we had to splurge a little.

July 11: Drove to Rausu to do a boattrip to see orcas, whales and dolphins!
Also went to Shiretoko Five Lakes. Be advised, that you must spend 5000 yen pp for a guide if you want to see more than the first lake (only applies from july 1st to august 31st and is due to the risk of meeting bears).

July 12: took a boattrip from Utoro to see the bears along the coast.
Drove to Sounkyo Gorge in the afternoon.

July 13: drove around the area, did a few walks. Couldn't be bothered to pay for the cablecar up the mountain...

July 14: drove to Chitose and stayed there.

July 15: Flew to Tokyo, transferred to Shinjuku station (took about 3 hours from we left the plane) and took a bus to Nagoya (willer express - 6 hours).

July 16: Sumo in Nagoya. Brilliant!

July 17: train to Magome. Hiked to Tsumago and stayed the night there.

July 18: Train to Matsumoto.

More to come:-)

Hi RasmusK

Please feel free to comment or post questions/ suggestions!

I'm now living in Hokkaido.
Just wanted to let you know my few comments.

When you rent a car near Shin-Chitose Airport, visit a more economical (less popular) shop such as Ones' Rent-a-car, Choinori Rent-a-car, and Niko-Niko Rent-a-car. Usually, at these low-cost shops, you can rent a car only with 2,000-2,500 yen per day. It means that you could have saved your money by 2500 yen per day. When you rent a car at a well-known Rent-a-car company like HONDA, TOYOTA, and NISSAN, you will have to pay more.

As you indicated, these lavender fields in Furano and Biei are sightseeing spots specially tailored for tourists (not ordinary farms). They are basically like a botanical garden or something like that. Also, there is a problem in your guide book. Usually, tourist guide books describe everything in an exaggerated way to attract more tourists. You can see such exaggeration in every tourist guide book published around the world.

If you want to see lavender fields carefully managed by farmers, visit (someday in the future) less popular lavender fields, for example, Kurose Farm in Sunagawa City (Sunagawa is a minor city located in the middle of Sapporo and Asahikawa):

Kurose Farm (Kurose is the family name of a person managing this farm):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s1dShKV8Iw
http://hokkaido-blog.com/archives/2006/07/post_419.html
tel: +81-125-53-2685
You can enjoy eating fresh vegetables grown in this farm with watching lavenders and tranquil views.

Anyway, don't take what you read in your guide books as it is. What you read there is a kind of exaggeration. Before you visit Hokkaido, ask someone living in Hokkaido for more appropriate information.

By asking someone in Hokkaido, you can get information on family farms open to public. Most of these family farms are small and have no Internet Web site for English-speaking tourists. Of course, even if you read your guide books again and again, you can not find such family farms.

As you see, visiting Shiretoko Five Lakes is getting more and more difficult and costs more and more these days due to its natural environment regulations and the risk of meeting wild bears. If you want to see great nature, avoid visiting sightseeing spots listed in your guide books. Most sightseeing spots listed in tour guide books are pouring down (crowded) because many tourists tend to visit the same spots listed there (you might be surprised to see that sightseeing spots not listed there are rather empty).

By the way, your trip to Japan seems to continue still now. Do you now stay in Matsumoto? If you stay in Matsumoto, visit a craft work street. Matsumoto is known as a city where unique crafts are produced by experienced artists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbSFEiAKCUU

July 16: Sumo - went there around 10.30am on the day and there was no line at the ticket office, and theyhad seats available in every categori exept two.

July 17: On staying in Tsumago. It was costly but the ryokan was the most authentic we've stayed in so far! Also the food was nothing short of sensational.

Yes we are still in Matsumoto but we have no more days here, but thanks for pointing it out about the arts and crafts. We're headed for Kanazawa - any suggestions for that city?

Our future looks like this:

July 20: Kamikochi
July 21: Kanazawa with a stop in Shirakawa on the way there.
July 22-24: Kanazawa
July 25-26: Osaka for the fireworks
July 27-29: Uno with daytrips to Naoshima and Kurashiki
July 30-31: Miyajima
August 1: Hiroshima
August 2-5: Not planned yet, but we have a railpass.
August 6-8: Tokyo

Are you bypassing Kyoto?

As you will be in Kansai in August, I would suggest that you might consider visiting Kyoto during your unplanned days (August 2-5). That is unless you have previously been there on a past trip and don't care to see it again.

Have Fun!

Hiya again.

any suggestions for that city?

There is an interesting temple to be mentioned in Kanazawa city. This temple is called Myoryu-ji (aka Ninja-dera or Ninja Temple), and has several gimmick (trick art) mechanisms to protect the temple from invasion of suspicious visitors.

Ninja-dera was formally (several hundred years ago) used by a Kanazawa's ancient governor to expel ninjas. The mechanisms include secret doors, puzzling network of corridors, and secret traps (holes) to trap suspicious visitors. The temple at first looks like a 2-story building, but it is actually a 4-story & 7-layer building.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NwTLGRpNiU
http://b-spot.seesaa.net/article/22671019.html
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB:Ninj...

The temple's official site (written in Japanese):
http://www.myouryuji.or.jp/
tel: +81-76-241-0888
address: No-machi 1-2-12, Kanazawa city
This temple is located about 2,500 meters south of JR Kanazawa Station, and situated near a river.
How to access:
get on a Hokuriku Tetsudo bus at Kanazawa Station, get off the bus at Hirokoji (bus stop name), and walk for two minutes
If you don't know what bus you should ride on, ask a nearby person to see how to access to Ninja-dera. Most people living in Kanazawa would know what is Ninja-dera.
Open Hours: 9:00-16:30
Admission fee: 700 yen (adult) 500 yen (children)
Important:
- Taking photographs are prohibited.
- Visiting there at a specified time is required.
- Appearing with too lightly dressed (short pants, sun-glass, hats) are prohibited by the temple.
- Reservation is required in advance
Very strict!

Map:
http://chizuz.com/map/map1424.html
Ninja-dera is noted by a green-yellow mark

http://www.hyakumangoku.net/bus/t-hirokoji/
Ninja-dera is surrounded by a pink ellipse. A, B, C and D are all a nearby bus stop.

If you feel it difficult to access to the temple, move by taxi (not so far from Kanazawa Station).

We will definately check out the ninja temple! Thanks.

@Katsura: Yes we've previously visited Kyoto and Nara, but are considering going to Kyoto again:-)